


Second Chances

by Hiragi_Houx



Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:17:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiragi_Houx/pseuds/Hiragi_Houx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is tough when you you remember people from what their corpses looked like.</p><p>Life is tough when the only other person that seems to remember is an ex-psycho.</p><p>Life is really tough the only person you want to remember you, doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chances

_When she fixed things, we weren’t expecting to be magically revived and have a happy ending to our suffering._

_No, when we saw Shinozaki for the last time, when she liberated us, we thought we were going to vanish along with the school, all of us, every single person who’d died._

_Of course, we were given a sort of…miracle. Shinozaki explained it; she’d looked up so much stuff, she’d practiced so hard for months on end to do this; she could revive us all as new people, with herself being the payment._

_She was going to give herself up to save every despair-filled soul trapped in that school._

_When the others protested, when I joined in with them, she silenced us and explained that it wasn’t like she was going to die. It would cost her a lot, but not her life. She’d practiced it; she made sure it would work before jumping into this._

_I had no idea what she did but she smiled, she cried, she told us we’d meet again one day, no matter what._

_Then everything went dark for the longest time. I almost gave up hope that it had worked, when I opened my eyes and saw a white room._

_My life really had started all over again._

_It was strange, growing up with parents that weren’t technically my parents. It was weird thinking my parents might still be out there –or not, I had no idea how long it had been until I was born again-, and I had a new family._

_I retained all my memories of my past life. Maybe Shinozaki meant for it to be this way, or maybe this was a torture she couldn’t erase with her magic._

_I wondered where my friends were in this new life. I wondered where Mayu was, what new family she had. I wanted to see her again._

_Life passed on for a long time with nothing really happening…_

* * *

** Fujisawa Public College; noon. **

“Wake up, class is in half an hour and you smell like crap.”

I sat up at the sound of the voice, letting out a loud, irritated groan. I hated being woken up, even if it was the afternoon already. I liked sleeping in in this lifetime. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be sleeping in this late if you hadn’t been playing porn at a hundred goddamn decibels last night.” I growled, eyes narrowing at my roommate, who scowled back at me.

“You have to be really goddamn stupid to think that was porn, dumbass. Would have figured a guro lover like you would at least know what a _zombie_ sounds like.” He retorted, looking over at me with a mocking smirk on his face.

“Wow Kizami, you can’t control your jackass genes for even five minutes can you?” I replied, kicking my blanket off to the side, swinging my legs over the side of my bed. I was about to tug off my sleep-shirt when I realised I wasn’t really into stripping in front of my roommate.

“Just go shower, asshat, I don’t like the smell of your body odour, especially when I have to share the room with you.” He grit out, getting his things ready for his day’s lectures. I think he was taking some sort of psychology course. Not sure.

I grabbed my clothes for the day and whacked the taller of us on his back as I left; smirking at the irritated yell he threw at me as I walked down the hall to the student showers they had in the dorms.

Yuuya Kizami, one of the people I had met back in Heavenly Host. I hadn’t liked him at all back then, in fact, he made me feel kind of sick in our brief meeting, but I decided to let go of some of my grudges in this life, especially when fate had put it that he lived in the house next to mine as we were growing up.

While I’d remembered everything from my first life from the moment I was able to process that I even had memories, Kizami had been different. I’d looked at him in awe the day his family (two elder siblings and two younger siblings, and both parents) had moved in next door.

I remembered him as the rude bastard that knocked me over and looked at my phone without permission. He figured we were the same kind of person, which we were far from. He made me very uncomfortable and I’d been glad I never saw him again.

In this life, he called me weird for staring, especially when I asked him if he remembered anything from before.

His (new) father liked hunting and one day decided to take his son with him. I’d sat out on the –very tiny- lawn of our house and watched as he left, peppy and excited. A few hours he’d came back, a sort of distant look on his face. He told his father to go inside without him and approached me.

Apparently killing a small animal while out with his father had sparked off the memories

After that, he remembered everything from his past life as well, and when he fully realised who I was, life was uncomfortable for a while until we awkwardly agreed that it was water under the bridge, and we should attempt to be friends.

 He seemed a lot more stable in this life, as did I.

I took a quick glance down at my bared arms. Completely clear. The me from my life before never wore short sleeves for a very good reason, but now I could do so without a care in the world.

Shinozaki really had done us a huge favour with her sacrifice.

In a way, she was sort of like God to us, in a way. Gave us life, a second chance despite the bad things we’d done…she was an amazing woman.

I wondered where she was.

When I arrived at the showers, I set my clean clothes aside with my towel so they wouldn’t get soaked. I turned around and ended up bumping into someone, my nose colliding painfully with their forehead.

“Hey there, careful!” He called, backing up a few steps, glaring at me very slightly. Looking through my tearful eyes I noticed it was one of the students in the room next to mine; Masato Fukuroi. One of the people I got on better with in this place.

“Sorry,” I murmured, even though it wasn’t my fault because he was the one kind of invading my personal space a moment ago. “Kind of out of it today, y’know?”

He gave a cautious smile, but I’d come to realise that was just how he always smiled. Awkward just like me; that’s probably how we got on so well.

“Yeah, I understand that. I’m not doing 100 percent today either.” He replied quietly, sighing a little.

I slid my shirt off and put it with my clothes, covering myself shyly with my towel before removing my shorts. Stepping behind one of the shower curtains, I tossed the towel over the rail, stepping out of the range of the water as I turned the shower handle. It took at least five freaking minutes to get to even bearable levels of lukewarm.

I pulled back the shower curtain a little –not too much to show off anything unpleasant and risk completely scaring off one of the least annoying people in the whole building- and decided to talk with Fukuroi to pass the time while I waited for the water to stop imitating the Arctic Ocean.

“Why are you taking a shower now anyway? Isn’t your science lecture at 8am on Thursdays?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he slipped on his clothes (far more expensive and smart looking than mine).

I slipped under the still cold water of the shower and began to scrub myself down, deciding I didn’t have time for my hair right now and just getting right down to where needed washing most. I had to raise my voice a little due to the shower curtain and water masking my voice.

“It was…” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose tightly with his fingers. “But Mitsuki was waiting for me outside the hall.”

“Oh god.”

“Yeah. She wants to make sure I’m in ‘good shape’, but is making me run ten laps around the building everyday necessary? Especially right after classes?” He sounded exhausted, the poor guy, that woman really did have it out for him. Or maybe that was just how she showed him affection. I had no idea.

I didn’t particularly like talking to Yamamoto very often. Flashbacks from my previous life made it hard to be around her, and I nearly threw up the first time I saw her in my new life. I couldn’t forgive what I’d done to her, even if I hadn’t been the one to murder her, it still made me sick to my stomach and I still felt uneasy to be in the same room as her.

I just let her believe that she intimidated me however. There were a very slim number of people that didn’t feel threatened by her and her amazingly strong kick. After she’d dropkicked a student named Katayama in the lunch hall, nobody dared speak back to her.

She was honestly sort of amazing in her own way, and when Fukuroi shyly admitted the two were together, I congratulated him. I just hoped he’d live to their wedding.

“But anyway, what about you Morishige? How’s life been treating you the past week of the new term?” The ashy blonde asked, a creak signalling that he’d sat down on the bench by my clothes.

“Me? Um…not much. I heard my lecturer for theatre’s getting a replacement today. Sucks that he got in that accident, he seemed reliable. Other than that, I’m already losing my mind rooming with Kizami.” I murmured, sighing heavily.

Not only does he keep me up with his late night-gaming, but the asshole snores so goddamn loud. And he steals my food even when I have it labelled. That’s all kinds of twisted. He’s still a twisted guy; I guess a new life didn’t fix that little flaw of his entirely.

“Yeah, he’s…a tough guy to room with. Why do you think Kurosaki sleeps in my room? Poor guy couldn’t handle it, even though they’re best friends.” Fukuroi chuckled slightly, leaning back on the bench. “I’m surprised you’re rooming with him. We have an extra bed in our room what with Shimada dropping out already, why don’t you room with us?”

I turned the shower off and tugged my towel down, scrubbing my face and hair before meticulously drying every other square inch of my body. I realised I’d left my clean boxers over with my other clothes and sheepishly asked Fukuroi to toss them over, which he complied to.

Stepping out of the stall, I made my way over to my clothes to start dressing myself for Theatre.

“Well, it’d be nice. I doubt you snore like goddamn giants when you’re sleeping, and anything’s better than waking up to ‘ _get up, assface_ ’. But on the other hand…I’d feel bad about anyone that’d end up in his room after me. I’ve put up with that guy most of my life; I can deal with his brattiness.”

Besides, nobody else would understand if he ended up snapping sometime. It was a safety measure for both him, and the other students, even if it put me at risk.

Fukuroi let out a small laugh and grinned at me, leaning back against the bench with relaxed shoulders.

With the casual demeanours and attitudes the former Byakudan students possessed, sometimes I forget that these people don’t remember what happened in the cursed schoolhouse that was Heavenly Host, that their murders had been the fault of the very person I shared my room with. I think it’s better for them this way though. None of the people I’ve identified as his past friends have reacted to him like one would to a murderer.

I’m terrified of those memories being triggered in them a similar way to what had happened to said ex-murderous roommate.

“I get it. Anyway, the offer still stands if you want it. I doubt many people will actually want to room with Kurosaki though; he keeps leaving his socks everywhere. I’m like his mom or something, having to clean up after him.” He groaned as we made our way back to the rooms, me so I could dump my washing away, him so he could get his notebooks for his maths lecture next.

I let out a small chuckle as I carelessly tossed my dirty clothes onto my bed, giving him my attempt of a friendly smile. “Want to get lunch or something after we’re out of class?” I offered, thinking it’d be nice to actually spend time with someone instead of just hanging out in my room by myself playing on my PSP or browsing the internet.

“Sounds good, I’ll have to ask Mitsuki though.” He murmured, the slightest hint of a whimper in his voice, eyes downcast. Poor guy really had it rough…Although sometimes I wondered if he ever really protested to that.

Let’s just say I’d heard some things that I decided not to talk to him about; mostly to preserve the non-creepy factor of our friendship.

I was also very sure that either the dorm walls were thin as paper, or the guys on this floor were always very loud people.

Sometimes that thought made me wonder if I was the only virgin in this damn college. Great, just another wonderful thing to slap onto my self-esteem…although I’d never particularly dated anyone I’d liked enough to commit myself to. I’d only ever dated two girls and neither relationship went well.

The first girl I dated, absolutely stunning with long, pinkish-red hair that cascaded over her back like a soft waterfall; I figured I was way too lucky for it to be true and I was. She just wanted to date someone to keep the creepier people of my gender away. I didn’t like that and we eventually broke up, having never really gone past holding hands.

The second? She also had very long hair, but hers was black and straight. She was a very serious girl and at first I thought the lack of smiles and affection meant she didn’t like me, but it turned out she was just not a very physical, affectionate girl. I went a little further –the important word here being little- with her than my first girlfriend, but eventually I decided I couldn’t pursue such an unaffectionate relationship.

Somewhere deep inside me I wondered if I was just saving myself to meet a certain girl from my past life again. Yes, it was very, very creepy to think that, to wish to save myself for someone I was only friends with previously, but at the same time I had nineteen years to mull over the feelings I’d had for her previously. A total of roughly sixteen years was how long it took for me to realise that yes, I indeed liked my friend.

My friend I still hadn’t met.

I absentmindedly mumbled a response to Fukuroi, having not noticed my neglecting of him until we’d reached my class. I waved him farewell and said I’d meet him outside his class later.

I really owed that guy, maybe I’d pay for his lunch today or something. An _‘I’m sorry everyone treats you like crap so here have a chicken wing’_ apology or something.

I pushed open the door to the hall, grimacing at its loud squeak. Nobody even oils these damn hinges do they? Of course not, why do that when you can just deafen the students instead.

I looked around and noticed very few people in class already. Well of course, it hadn’t started yet, although the lack of people made it easier to just slip in unnoticed. I took my seat beside a shy looking boy with mousy brown hair. He visibly reminded me a lot of Mochida, although this boy’s eyes were a very vibrant amber colour.

“Hey,” I spoke up, thinking it’d be better if I started to socialise with the students in my class so maybe things wouldn’t be as awkward for paired teamwork. “You new? I don’t think I saw you at all last week.”

He shivered a little, obviously somewhat intimidated. “A-ah yeah, I got a place because of the dropouts s-so I’m starting today…I’m Hi-Hidemasa Kojima…” He introduced himself shakily, extending a hand to me. While I wouldn’t usually engage in such social pleasantries, I figured it couldn’t do the guy well to ignore his gesture, so I shook his hand in return, giving him the best smile I could muster up.

“Hey there Kojima, I’m Sakutaro Morishige. If you…if  you don’t mind me asking, why are you taking theatre? You seem awfully…nervous.” I didn’t want to be so blunt –or maybe I did- but I was genuinely curious why someone who stuttered and tripped over every line was taking a class where he’d have to be speaking for a good portion of it.

“B-because I want to get o-over my stage fright! I-If I keep avoiding my problem, I-I-I’ll never g-get better! I w-want to be an a-actor…s-so I have to g-get over my n-nerves!” He spoke animatedly, voice determined despite its shakiness, and it was sort of admirable.

He seemed like a good guy to be around.

The door squeaked again and a flood of new students came in, taking their seats here and there, and a –rather adorable- girl sat down next to Kojima. She had shoulder length black hair with a yellow ribbon tied at the back, and large blue eyes. She reached out to pat his shoulder and he jumped visibly, before chuckling sheepishly and smiling at the girl.

“There you are Kojima, I was looking for you.” Her voice was quiet and soft, and I doubted she sounded much louder even if she was yelling, but it fit her petite, cute demeanour.

“H-Hasegawa…hahaha, t-there you are…” He smiled widely at her, leaning against her shoulder.

I raised my eyebrows at the sight. The way those two looked, it seemed like they were affectionate lovers, and I decided to test my theory and point it out, which caused them both to shoot up straight, faces red.

“N-No, w-we’re just friends!” Kojima squeaked, averting his eyes from the girl’s (Hasegawa did he say her name was?) face.

Looking more at the girl next to him, I started to get a headache; the usual kind that normally ensued whenever I saw someone from Heavenly Host. A moment of concentrated silence allowed me to pin her as the red spirit and skeleton outside the custodian’s closet.

She sure didn’t seem the type to become a malevolent spirit, so whatever had happened to her had obviously really, really damaged her mentally. Poor thing.

“Sorry about it, but you two do give off that impression when you’re curled up like that.” I said with a small chuckle, watching how the dark haired girl’s face turned an even brighter shade of red.

“W-We just used to cuddle like that a lot in high school, it’s just something we do.” She explained quickly, obviously trying to brush the conversation away into less embarrassing topics.

I felt worse for Kojima, who was trembling and blushing with such intensity I felt he would explode if I further provoked him.

The door squeaking once more and the hush of the chatter around us signalled the new teacher’s arrival, and Hasegawa sighed happily, thankful to be saved from my probing of their relationship status.

As my eyes settled on the teacher as he walked to the front of the room, however, I felt my eyes widen impossibly at the person before me.

Same hair the colour of sea-foam, same set of glasses perched upon his nose, same deadly seriously, yet vaguely playful glint in his eyes.

“Good afternoon class, I am your replacement lecturer for Theatre. My name is Ryuji Shimazaki.”

Are you serious.

Back in my first life, Ryuuji Shimazaki was a brat I had to help out with during some kind of student education program Kisaragi was holding. Me, Mayu, and the other members of the drama club all had to pack up our things, travel down to this elementary school and teach some of the kids how theatre worked.

He’d become strangely attached to me in the few hours I was there and in his own cutely annoying way, decided we were friends. At first I found it mildly hilarious that someone with their face set in what seemed like a perpetual scowl had decided I was his friend, but then that subsided to…irritance…and then as the boy matured over the next year or so I knew him before my death, I’d come to appreciate his presence.

And now here he was; my goddamn lecturer for goddamn theatre. I wondered if he’d remember me? …I wonder if my parents had told him I’d disappeared at the very least. I wonder if him recognising me would leave any lasting trauma.

So I shut my brain up and decided to concentrate on the lecture, watching as this man –older than me despite the fact I’m really a good five or six years older than him dammit- explained everything I already knew about drama and theatre.

But it felt refreshing to hear all those basics again, after so long, and from a voice I finally recognised because I hadn’t seen a single one of my Kisaragi friends at all.

The two hours passed by quicker than expected, with everyone in the class raising arms and answering questions and taking notes but me. So when we were let out, I was held back to get a small encouragement to try and participate in class more.

I gave a half-mumbled apology and tried to escape the situation. I was becoming uncomfortable and felt very strange being reprimanded by Ryuuji – I mean, Mr.Shimazaki.

“I understand sir; I’ll work harder next time. I-“

His hand reached out and squeezed my arm; his eyes locked on my face with a look of shock and surprise.

 Shit, had he noticed?

It had only just dawned on me the repercussions of disappearing off the face of the earth and then reappearing a few years later as exactly the same goddamn person. That was a huge mess I couldn’t rationally explain to anyone outside of; _‘Yes I was in a cursed schoolhouse in another dimension filled with ghosts that killed my friends.’_

I had to get out of there immediately.

“Excuse me; I really have to go meet my friend. I’ll do better in class next time.” I quickly got the words out and I’d torn my arm away the best I could.

I then proceeded to run out that room fast enough that I _very nearly_ didn’t prepare myself to open that goddamn squeaky door, and _very nearly_ smashed my face into it.

I quickly made myself to where I knew Fukuroi’s class was and saw him standing outside the door, talking with Yamamoto in a hushed voice.  He perked up a little when he saw I was there, and even the small brunette smiled at me, giving me a small nod that indicated I wasn’t on today’s shit list.

I kind of wondered who would be, or already was, on Yamamoto’s shit list.

“Good afternoon Morishige. Heard you invited Masato out for dinner huh? Well if that’s so you can take me along and buy me something too, I’m starved!” She said with an air that promised pain if I did not comply to her demand.

 **This** was why I was not on Yamamoto’s shit list today.

And since I rather enjoyed my internal organs intact, I had no choice but to comply.

“Of course. I’ll pay for you too Fukuroi, to pay you back for this morning.”

I’d managed to nearly break his nose, had him toss me my underwear, and then flat out ignored him thinking about girls I never got to copulate with all within the space of the past two and a half hours.

I owed this guy.

I really, really owed this guy.

“Thanks Morishige.” He smiled at me, rubbing his neck for a few moments before the three of us took off down the hall to the cafeteria, the whole while Yamamoto was talking.

“‘Today you can have something a little unhealthier Masato, since it’s your friend paying for you, but don’t you dare slack off or it’s twenty laps a day.”

That poor guy.

After entering the small dining room and everyone getting what they wanted –Yamamoto having gone for something expensive and meaty, while the abused ash-blonde had gone for soup, whilst I, with my now very unhappy wallet, had to deal with whatever was cheapest.

Which is why I ended up with just a ham sandwich. A very _small_ , thin ham sandwich.

As we looked for a free table to sit down and eat at, I heard a very loud, happy voice calling us.

“Mitsuki!~ Mitsuki, hey, over here~!”

Our eyes turned and saw a girl with long, brown (although I swore it was green, and nobody believed me) hair tied up in a ponytail with a white ribbon. She had her pink-sleeved arm raised as high as it would go, waving frantically at us, beckoning us to go sit with her.

Noticing a distraught Kizami next to her, I complied. Poor guy must be at his wits end.

“Hello Kirisaki.” I said with a smile, catching Kizami’s eyes and giving him the best apologetic look I could muster for someone like him, and sat opposite him.

Tohko Kirisaki was the only person who could effectively tame and calm down Yuuya Kizami, and she sat next to him in his psychology lecture.

Of course, part of her effect on him was due to the fact he remembered emotionally scarring, punching and then gleefully eating a body part of the young woman. The guy actually managed to feel guilty for the hell he’d caused her, which is why he put up with her.

Even if it seemed to stress the hell out of him. He’d told me before she was a lot calmer in her previous life, and much, much more tolerable.

She also had a raging crush on him, which was so painfully obvious to everyone but him that it made me physically wince when she tried asking him out and he looked confused each time.

“Hey Tohko! How was class?” Yamamoto asked, taking the seat opposite Kirisaki while Fukuroi sat next to her, having nobody to face on the opposite end of the table.

Even seating hates that man.

“It was fine. We got a new girl, oh my gosh, she’s such a cutie Mitsuki!” She squealed, causing the large man next to her to flinch a little from the sudden noise.

When Kirisaki had something she wanted to say, she hardly ever beat around the bush. I guess that was a good thing about her…even if it was a little hard to deal with sometimes.

The violent brunette and Fukuroi both reacted visibly to Kirisaki’s excited words. Everyone seemed excited when a new person showed up, but I guess the fact that it was, what the pony-tailed girl believed to be at least, a very cute girl, made it even more intriguing.

“She’s over getting her lunch and I told her to sit with us, she’ll be back soon! You should see her, she’s even tinier than me, and her eyes, wow her eyes!” Kirisaki had become overwhelmingly animated, and I noticed the look of restrained horror in Kizami’s eyes when she accidentally flicked food onto his face.

It seemed like all the guys I knew were having a crappy time with their respective women.

As she was making horrified noises as she tried to wipe Kizami’s face clean, a small clatter and giggle brought our eyes to the previously unused corner of the table.

“Kirisaki, you’re going to fuss Kizami to death.” Came a small, joyous laugh as the newcomer sat down.

“E-ehehehe, sorry, I just got something on his face that’s all…” Kirisaki smiled sheepishly.

She perked up again as she remembered the other occupants of the table and waved her arm out, nearly hitting Kizami in the face.

Sometimes I’m _really_ glad he plays violent games so he can vent his anger at life towards fictional people instead of real ones. I doubt he could get away with that in this lifetime.

“E-verybody, this is the absolutely adorable girl I was telling you about, Mayu Suzumoto!”

I already knew who it was from the second she spoke, the second my eyes caught onto those beautiful green eyes that looked far more gorgeous than any poetic forest in a fairy tale. Short, soft brown hair tied loosely at the side with a pink ribbon.

I could never forget the voice that both saved my previous life, and brought it to the brink of despair, and pushed me over the edge that led to my death.

This was the girl I’d been searching for my entire life, and she just showed up out of nowhere. I’d have to let her know it was me; I had to know if she remembered me at all.

“Mayu?” I looked over at her with a hopeful glint in my eye, hoping she’d remember, hoping she already knew it was me.

She looked over at me and made a confused face for a second. “Someone seems pretty bold~” She giggled momentarily, extending a hand out to me. “Have we met before?”

I was too shocked to take her hand and she blushed, pulling it back a little. “Surely…surely you remember me right?” I asked, voice quiet, trying to ignore the quizzical looks of the rest of the table.

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know you at all…” She murmured, looking like she was trying hard to think of a time when she’d seen me before. “…Nope, nothing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you.”

There was no trace of teasing or joking in her voice, she was serious, and I felt my blood run cold as I stared at her. This couldn’t be happening, could it? This was just some really elaborate joke, she was just wanting to scare me and then laugh at me later for being such a paranoid dork.

Right?

But the way she tilted her head and her eyebrows pushed together made me realise that she wasn’t kidding at all.

She had no idea who I was.

This was the worst case scenario I’d ignored the past good few years, she’d not remembered me, and looking at me hadn’t been the trigger. What the hell was I going to do!?

I suddenly felt more alone at that moment than I’d had done in the entirety of both my lives.

**Author's Note:**

> What to say about this wow, um.
> 
> There are so many things that seem weird right now like Tohko being completely overactive, Kizami not being all Kizami-like, and whatnot, but it'll be explained.
> 
> Also the whole reincarnation dealie and Ryuuji remembering Morishige, boy that'll be fun.
> 
> Also a thing to note; pretty much everyone was reborn at the same time with the occasional year or two age gap so that's going to be really weird but that's what happened.
> 
> //yes there's a reason why everyone seems to go to the same college
> 
> //also I've never lived in a dorm, so I had to ask my friend what his was like and based it from that I'm sorry if I fucked up which I know I did.  
> ////fuck


End file.
